# Troy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097 "2004-06-07T14:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/1 "2004-06-07T14:24:52Z")
I did a search for Troy and didn’t come up with anything so here goes. Has anyone seen the movie yet? Cardsfan and I went to see it Friday night, and while it was good on an entertainment stand point, was highly inaccurate if I remember correctly. Didn’t the actual war of Troy last for 12 years or so? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/2 "2004-06-07T14:37:50Z")
I can’t really fault them for taking “historical” liberties, since, AFAIK, most of what we know about the Trojan war comes from a work of fiction. What bugged me the most about “Troy” was the omission of the Gods. From what I remember of the book, they were pretty important to the story–one of the things that made the Illiad the Illiad, instead of just a 3000 year old Hollywood screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/3 "2004-06-07T14:59:16Z")
Here’s a thread kinda on Troy… > **[Illead vs Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=257980)** > > Ok, I know that what we actually have of the Illead ends after Achilles gives Hectors body back. In fact the “Trojan Horse” is only known by references, not Homers actual words (I am assuming that Homer was real for this question). But we also have... ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/4 "2004-06-07T15:25:36Z")
Thank you for the link Ponster. Wonder why it didn’t come up during my search. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/5 "2004-06-08T10:35:25Z")
I saw the movie last Monday, and I thought it was so bad I nearly Pitted it. I mean, come on! I’ll put my points in a spoiler box, even though as far as I’m concerned, the movie can’t get more spoiled. The sun came up in the west 3 times. A virgin priestess of Apollo, niece to King Priam, goes directly from having a knife at Achilles throat to having sex with him. The entire siege of Troy lasted less than 3 weeks, counting a 12 day mourning period. There were other problems too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say the old friend I went to see it with now owes me big time, since seeing it was _his_ idea. Of course, it was worse for him – he’s a history and military fiction buff! :smack: CJ ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/6 "2004-06-08T10:46:49Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > I saw the movie last Monday, and I thought it was so bad I nearly Pitted it. I heard the casting director Pitted Achilles. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/7 "2004-06-08T16:46:54Z")
There was also [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256275). The movie had some OK moments, though it diverged a whole lot from every previous version of the story (including but not limited to the Iliad). I uttered “what the hell?” at each of these scenes: Menelaus killed in the middle of the movie; Achilles in the Trojan Horse; Agamemnon slain by Briseis; Paris and the Trojan women all escaping out a back door I really liked Eric Bana as Hector, and Sean Bean as Odysseus. Orlando Bloom was pretty much like I’d imagined Paris. Brad Pitt wasn’t too terrible as Achilles, but he still doesn’t fit my mental picture of him. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/8 "2004-06-08T17:31:22Z")
Penny Arcade summed up my thoughts on the movie rather [well](http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-05-24&res=l). ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troy/249097/9 "2004-06-08T20:15:12Z")
> [@Skopo](#): > > Brad Pitt wasn’t too terrible as Achilles, but he still doesn’t fit my mental picture of him. Me, neither. The picture Homer paints of Achilles is one of an enormous muscle-bound bruiser who wins battles due to his sheer indestructability. The Brad Pitt version of Achilles won battles merely because he was quick and agile.